Reasons After the 18th Amendment

The Eighteenth Amendment, or better known as the Prohibition Amendment, was the change to the Constitution that made the, "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purpose is hereby prohibited" (209). In other words, associating one's self with anything alcoholic, with the exception of medicinally, was illegal. This seemingly un-American amendment was ratified January 16, 1919. Certain groups of people such as the anti-saloon league petitioned the government in favor of prohibition.

The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed December 5, 1933. American Decades says that it was a "failed experiment" (). This amendment to the Constitution was a failure because everyone ignored it. Not only did was this amendment a "failed experiment" () it was a detrimental experiment which lent itself to criminal activity and fostered division within political, cultural, and social groups. Precedents of division and selective obey of the law were set during the time period when prohibition was ratified.

Good intentions to improve someone or something are not realistic when people do not see anything wrong with themselves. Initially, this amendment was intended to materialize and instill the beliefs and ideals of anti-alcoholic groups: to improve morality and decrease criminal activity. Prominent beliefs throughout the groups were that, "the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is productive or pauperism, degradation and crime; and believing it our duty to discourage that which produces more evil than good" (Lincoln-Lee Legion). The American Issue Publishing Company was started by the Anti-Saloon League in order to make printed material for prohibition available to the public at large, Lincoln-Lee Legion was a pledge group that asked abstinence from alcohol from it's members, Scientific...

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...The 18thAmendment , considered to be one of the biggest follies of the
nation, was brought about with the intent to sincerely help the U.S., but more
harm came from it than good. Prohibition, also known as the 18thAmendment ,
was ratified on January 29th, 1920 and was repealed on December 5th, 1933
with the ratification of the 21st Amendment which nullified prohibition.The 18thAmendment stated that it was illegal to manufacture, transport, and sell alcoholic
beverages in the United States. It was said that the national prohibition of alcohol
was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce
the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and
hygiene in America. This was a very good idea, but America went about it the
wrong way.
We, instead, created even more problems such as organized crime,
increased alcohol consumption, over crowded prison systems, and the up rise
of the Mafia. Not only was this a step in the wrong direction, it was an action
that increased the problems that the United States was already facing. People
believed that prohibition would fail and that it was a violation of a person's
privacy while other people thought that prohibition would do nothing but improve
the country. People who were against prohibition were called wets and people for
it...

...Of the 27 amendments to the US constitution, only one has ever been revoked: the 18thamendment that banned the manufacturing and sale of alcohol, also known as prohibition (http://prohibition.osu.edu/why-prohibition). Previous amendments had all focused on rights to vote, slavery, and gun laws but of the 27 amendments passed, this was the first dealing with a personal concern, the beverages you drink. Suffice to say the 18thamendment was not popular with average Americans. During its 14 years in existence there was much protesting and illegal activities. So it bares the question, how did this absurd amendment get proposed, let alone passed in congress? Support for the 18thamendment arose because of patriotism in World War 1, medical concerns surrounding alcohol, and pressures from driving forces of the anti saloon league.
Its said that “the First World War had a tremendous influence upon prohibition” and that “most blame the First World War” for the legislation being passed (http://schreibe.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/the-five-causes-of-prohibition/
). During the hard times of World War 1 almost all fit American men and women joined the war overseas, mostly as either soldiers or nurses. Everyone who wasn’t directly part of the war efforts helped out on the home front as much as they could by means of collecting supplies and food...

...Prohibition
The 18thAmendment, ratified on January 16th 1919, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, export, import and transportation of alcoholic beverages, happened because of the Temperance Movement. It was believed at the time that alcohol was the main problem in society and that it needed to be removed. This moral issue divided people up between those who were “dry” and those who were “wet”. Either way, it was eventually repealed because of the problems that came from it. While that was at the beginning of the 19th century, today we are facing a similar moral issue: the war on drugs.
There were several parties that wanted to prohibit the use of alcohol. One of them involved in the matter was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, who did all it could to elect any candidate that was on the “dry” side, meaning anyone who opposed alcohol (WCTU). President Wilson was stuck in the middle of this situation. He believed in moderation not in complete prohibition, but since there were more people on the “dry” side than the “wet” side, the bill passed. The only problem was that even though the 18thAmendment said that “intoxicating” beverages were prohibited, it did not say what that meant and there was no way to enforce it. That is why the Volstead Act was passed, to give a definition of “intoxicating”. That meant any drink that had over 0.5 percent alcohol, and it gave the government the legal right to...

...The 18thamendment of the constitution
Prohibition was introduced to all American states apart from Maryland in 1920. Prohibition was the banning of alcohol; you could be arrested for sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. There were many factors that influenced the introduction of prohibition. One of the main factors was the temperance movement’s two examples of this
Were the anti-saloon league and Women’s Christian temperance movement. The temperance movements were at the strongest in rural areas, they put pressure on state governments to introduce prohibition. They put pressure on them by claiming the Damage to drinker’s health. They also protested that the sale in alcohol produced crime and disorder, poverty and distress, absenteeism and loss of production it also brought misery and turned men vicious. They also horrifically claimed 3000 infants were smothered in their beds yearly. The temperance movement got stronger and persuaded most state governments to ban the sale of alcohol in their state. Alcohol has many effects on the body that could be harmful; this is also another argument for the prohibition movement. Alcohol has the property of chloroform and ether of penetrating actually into the nerve fibers themselves, which causes a craving for relief by recourse to the very substance that produced the disturbance. The poisoning attack of alcohol is specially severe in the cortex cerebrum-the top part of the brain-where...

...To drink or no? Ever since the first people stumbled across alcohol (and then each other) this has been a question commonly asked. Statistics show that a majority of domestic violence, automobile accidents, and rape, all involve (many times) alcohol. Whether one thinks consumption is "right" or not has been asked by people for people from time to time. This would be the case of the 18thAmendment of 1919.
The Act passed by those concerned with the above-mentioned problems, prohibited the vending, transportation of, and consumption of alcohol. The law was intended to be enforced nation-wide. Police raided and trashed many vendors to stop their trade. Sometimes however, the police took their share of the whiskey they were supposed to break, and paid reporters to look the other way. On the whole, prohibition was effective in smaller town/cities, but worked a bit less in the larger cities.
It is said that for every market that is destroyed, a new underground market is created. This was exactly the case with prohibition. Though domestic violence did decrease, much crime increased. Bootlegers (people who made/sold their own whiskey) popped up everywhere. Speakeasies, which were underground bars, were frequented by virtually everyone. Seceret drinking was considered a glamorous thing-even in Washington parties. Bootlegging gangs began to increase, thus an increase in street crime occured. One of the most famous of these gangsters was Al Capone....

...English III Honors
Period 4
Prohibition
Prohibition was the eighteenth amendment. It prohibited the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages. People would have never thought of "excoriating" alcohol until the 19th century (Tyrrell 16). During this time widespread crime and dismay arose. Some beneficial things did come out of this period of chaos such as women were able to prove themselves as people their temperance movements. During this time many things happened that led to Prohibition's strongest point and to its fall. Prohibition proved to be a failure from the start,. Prohibition was scarcely adhered to and also widely defied but out of this women had a chance to voice their opinions and prove themselves.
Article V deals with amendments. Either house or law makers can propose amendments. In order for an amendment to be passed the House of Representatives and the Senate must ratify by three quarters vote. On January 29, 1919, the Secretary of State announced that on January 16th thirty-six states had ratified the amendment and therefore it had become a part of the Constitution.
Temperance movements were vital keys to the ratification of the eighteenth amendment. Temperance at first meant abstaining from distilled liquors, but later would be the complete avoidance of alcohol. Both men and women would participate in temperance across the United States....

...Gage Schuyler
18thamendment vs. the 21st amendment report
The History of the 18th and 21st Amendment
In the late 1800’s the 18thamendment was created. This began the prohibition era. This meant that the production, sell, and consumption of alcoholic products were illegal. This was a big problem for many people in the United States because a large percentage of these people drank alcohol.
Following the 18th Amendment's adoption, prohibition resulted in a public demand for illegal alcohol, making criminals of producers and consumers. The criminal justice system was swamped. Although police forces and courts had expanded in recent years, prisons were jam-packed and court dockets were behind in trying to deal with the rapid surge in crimes. Organized crime expanded to deal with the lucrative business, and there was widespread corruption among those charged with enforcing unpopular laws.
Groups dedicated to encouraging abstinence of alcohol, and had a number of reasons for it. They believed there was a direct link between alcohol and many disruptive behaviors, like child abuse and domestic violence. Also another famous concern was that of Henry Ford, who believed that alcohol had a negative impact on labor productivity.
Many others fought this growing issue tooth-and-nail. The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment and the...

...18thAmendment
Congress is who was involved with the 18thamendment which was ratified on January 16th 1919 and went into effect on January 16th, 1920. This amendment was signed in Washington by congress.
The 18thamendment prohibits the sale, consumption, distribution, import, and export of all liquors. During the world war prohibitionists made it seem patriotic to conserve grain for the war effort and not to make alcohol. The prohibitionists thought that a sober soldier was a good soldier and a sober factory worker was a good factory worker.
Section 1: states that, after one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2: the congress and several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3: this article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the constitution by legislatures of the several states, as provided in the constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the congress.
After the 18th...